pdf-ebookys Chapter 23 Where is this? -1
Chapter 23 Where is this? -1
A long, snow-white robe billowed against the gray sky as a tall, imposing figure walked along Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York, a street renowned worldwide.
The once brightly lit and bustling Fifth Avenue has now become a desolate and desolate wasteland.
The wind whistles through the gaps between the empty skyscrapers, producing only a low, mournful sound; not a trace of the usual hustle and bustle can be heard.
A thick stench, a mixture of putridity and blood, permeated the air, bringing a chilling sensation as it entered the nostrils—the unique, nauseating aroma of decaying life.
The once pristine office building facade is now covered with spiderweb-like cracks, shards of broken glass are scattered on windowsills and street corners, shop shutters hang askew with jagged gaps torn by violence, and the interior furnishings have been looted, leaving only a messy wreckage.
On the street, countless cars resembled abandoned steel coffins, covered in thick dust, their bodies riddled with scratches and dents, some still bearing the posture of crashing into roadside guardrails, their twisted metal gleaming coldly in the dim light.
The once neat gray concrete floor was now completely covered by a layer of dried, dark brown blood scabs. Stepping on it produced a soft, crunchy sound, as if questioning the lives lost on this land.
Pale human bones mixed with rotting flesh stretched from the street corner to the distant crossroads. Some leaned crookedly against lampposts, while others were half-buried in the ashes, extending all the way to the gray horizon at the edge of the field of vision, silently telling the story of the catastrophe that had taken place here.
Vega walked forward with a calm expression, ignoring his surroundings. As time went by, the emotions of pity, compassion, and sorrow emanating from him grew deeper and deeper.
It's not just Fifth Avenue; the entire island of Manhattan, the entire American continent, and all human settlements on Earth present similar scenes, or even more terrifying ones...
This planet is dead; very few humans remain, and they are dying off at an alarming rate.
No, that's not quite accurate.
To be precise, there are very few normal humans left, because there is a group of aliens infected by the virus—they still retain a vague sense of consciousness, but are completely controlled by an endless desire to eat, and regard their own kind as their only food. They are fearfully called "carnivores" by the survivors.
Fortunately, these "carnivores" also see each other as food, engaging in an endless cycle of hunting and killing.
"What world have I arrived in?" Vega asked, utterly bewildered and anxious.
This dead world saddened him, but he longed to return immediately to the world where he had his lover, disciples, and friends, a world about to be invaded by an alien army!
Five days ago, he sensed danger while rescuing Task Force 25 at sea and hid in an alternate dimension. Before he could close the rift, a powerful energy shockwave surged in through the rift.
The shockwave didn't harm him, but it blasted him away from the rift and caused changes in the other-dimensional space, resulting in him getting lost inside once again.
Fortunately, this time it only took him four days to find a world.
After a day of searching, he discovered that this world was still the Marvel universe, with the superheroes and supervillains he knew, but the storyline of this world felt unfamiliar to him.
After learning that the upheaval first occurred in Manhattan, he came here to find the source of the upheaval and a way to return to the world he longed for.
Vega continued walking forward, then suddenly stopped and turned to look to his left. There was a man standing in the window of the second floor of the shop next to him.
The man was wearing a tattered, red and black bodysuit stained with blood and mud, with a pistol stuck in each of his thighs and two long-handled samurai swords strapped to his back.
That's not the point. The point is that the man's hood was only half intact, and the exposed lower half of his face looked as ugly as a rotten tomato that had been deep-fried and trampled by hundreds of feet.
"Deadpool?" Vega's gaze fell on the figure on the second floor. He frowned slightly as he looked at the drool dripping from the other person's mouth and the greedy, hungry eyes.
Even Deadpool, the guy favored by Lady Death, has been infected by the virus. It seems like Earth is truly doomed.
"Ah, ah, meat, meat, the meat smells so good..."
"I'll eat you, then move on to the even more delicious Punisher..."
Deadpool Wade Wilson, muttering to himself, leaped down and pounced on Vega, neither drawing his gun nor his knife.
Driven by his appetite, he believed he could easily subdue the "delicious" prey before him with just his hands.
Seeing Deadpool rushing towards him, Vega didn't make any move. He wasn't flustered; instead, a playful smile appeared on his lips.
Bang~!
As Deadpool's body leaped into the air, a muffled gunshot suddenly rang out from not far away, breaking the deathly silence of the ruins.
Before the words had even faded, a bullet gleaming with a pale golden light streaked across the gray sky like a meteor, hurtling towards Deadpool and striking him precisely in mid-air.
The next instant, a teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out. Deadpool's head exploded like a rotten watermelon that had been smashed hard, dark red blood, murky brain matter, and shattered pieces of flesh splattering everywhere. Then, the headless body lost all momentum and fell straight to the ground like a puddle of mud with a dull thud.
An invisible barrier appeared in front of Vega, blocking the flying blood, flesh, and bone fragments. He didn't look at Deadpool, who had lost his head and was lying on the ground, but turned to look in the direction from which the gunshots came.
The gunshot came from a street corner 346 meters away, and the scene there was clearly visible to Vega through the emanating spiritual energy.
Standing around the corner was a middle-aged man in a black trench coat with a stern expression. He held a large-caliber pistol straight in his right hand and pointed it at Vega, who was looking over.
Not only him, but also an elderly priest in a black robe was standing against the wall around the corner, holding a little boy who looked to be eleven or twelve years old with a terrified expression in his arms.
Vega was slightly surprised. He recognized the middle-aged man as Frank Cassel, the infamous anti-hero Punisher.
Surprisingly, even Deadpool, with his gossipy nature, fell victim to this, while the Punisher remained unscathed.
Not only was he unharmed, but it seemed his constitution had been strengthened, and he was even completely immune to all bacteria and viruses, including the ones that led to the apocalypse.
After quickly analyzing the Punisher's body with his mental power, Vega seemed to be deep in thought. Could the Punisher be the protagonist of this universe?
This post-apocalyptic style might actually be possible...